GULF SHORES, Alabama -- City leaders are seizing the day along the Alabama Gulf Coast in an effort to guide sustainable growth amid constant pressure on traffic, residents’ quality of life and the environment.

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft, council members and staff welcomed nearly 200 residents to the Erie Meyer Civic Center Tuesday night for a presentation and feedback session on a comprehensive strategic plan for the city, dubbed “Small Town, Big Beach Vision 2025 for Sustainability.”

The mayor presented a wide-ranging plan that’s still fluid and open for input from the public. Key points of the initiative include:

An ongoing push to get a new hospital built closer to the city.

A proposed dual high school and college campus on the Beach Express.

Gulf State Park improvements through the BP recovery process, including a lodge and conference center, research and education center and a proposal to work with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society.

Traffic relief through the creation of a north-south corridor in the state park, an extension of the city’s East 20th Avenue connecting with Canal Road, and two beach highway bypasses north of the existing intersection of Ala. 59 and Beach Boulevard.

Beach streetscape improvements and implementation of a trolley system.

Work with council members and staff, beginning in 2012, focused on the premise, “We know we’re going to grow so let’s direct it in a way that we’re growing to a destination and to a future that we want,” Craft said.

Traffic concerns rose to the top of the heap, followed by the need to protect the environment and opening up avenues for economic diversity. The mayor touched on each issue:

Traffic: “The first issue that was universal was traffic. There wasn’t a person in the room that wasn’t upset with and concerned about traffic in our community. And so the number one issue was make sure we don’t make traffic worse, do everything we can to make it better. And we’re limited in making traffic better because most of our problems are on our state highway.”

Environment: “In 2010, after the oil spill hit all of our accommodations and amusements were open. Our restaurants were open and ready for business but you couldn’t swim in the water. You couldn’t go fishing. You were afraid to eat the fish, the seafood, out of the Gulf. You really weren’t comfortable walking on the beach wading through oil. And what happened? Nobody came. Nobody came. That tells you why people visit here. That tells you why we live here. We live here because of the environment.”

Economic Diversity: “The only thing we’ve got is tourism. If tourism were to go away after an oil spill or after a storm event, your job is in jeopardy. If you own a business, the business is in jeopardy. If you depend on the city to provide you services for your quality of life here, that’s in jeopardy because we survive (on tourism) -- 62 percent of the revenue that this city gets is tied to tourism-type of revenue so everybody having just that one level of economy was dangerous, wasn’t sustainable. It put us in a very delicate situation to have a future that we want.”

Piggybacking on those three key concerns focused on improving the city’s quality of life and ecological sustainability, five areas of action are the center of focus: medical, education, Gulf State Park, Waterway District and Gulf Beach District.

The mayor’s presentation lasted roughly 45 minutes and was followed by a short question-and-answer session.

Here are highlights of each category of the initiative as explained by Craft.

MEDICAL

“Medical issues relate to everyone of us. I mean to this coastal area five-and-a-half million visitors that come each year to Baldwin County. They count on us to provide emergency medical care. Those of us that live here we depend on having good emergency local care and we’ve got a good hospital in Foley but they’re a long way away.”

Through the formation of the Gulf Coast Health Care Authority in 2008, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach have been pursuing a new hospital to serve the beach area. Plans by Sacred Heart Medical to open a hospital in Gulf Shores collapsed after it could not get the required Certificate of Need granted by the State Health Planning and Development Agency, Craft said.

South Baldwin Regional Medical Center and Infirmary Health System remain interested in a new venture. Craft said a new hospital would likely be built on the Beach Express as to not add to the traffic on Ala. 59.

“It provides the best opportunity for us to have better traffic flow to a hospital facility and we’re working with both of those entities and hopefully we’ll have some movement with one of the two of them in a short period of time. That is a long-range goal but one we’re determined we have to have for quality of life in this community.”

The proposed project would relieve congestion at the three-school campus off East 20th Avenue by opening a new high school along with a new campus for Faulkner State Community College. It would also aim for foster relationships with four-year colleges, such as the University of Alabama.

Faulkner State had already approached the city about possibly expanding its existing campus on Ala. 59, just north of the Intracoastal Waterway, but wetlands and surrounding businesses limit that.

“So they’re looking to create more of a campus environment, wanting to build expanded classrooms, and more dormoratory-type housing and create a real college atmosphere and they can’t do it where they are,” Craft said.

The college and high school would share common facilities such as gymnasiums and auditoriums and possibly administrative offices that would offer steep savings.

About 40 acres of the property are already owned by the city, another 50 will be donated if the plans move forward, and the city has an option to buy an additional 117 acres.

Further partnerships with Alabama and possibly the University of South Alabama and other colleges would provide a unique opportunity in south Baldwin County.

While he feels the proposal has reached some degree of success through talks with Baldwin County Superintendent Alan Lee and Faulkner State President Gary Branch, Craft said there are no official agreements.

“They all have to go back to their boards so there’s no commitments from anybody. It doesn’t matter, we’ve got an option on that piece of property that we’ve got about another 45 days before we have to make a decision as a city to buy it or not.

We’re in the middle of a free look period so we’ve got to come to some conclusion in 45 days whether or not we want to close on that property and have a campus of that size to accomplish all of the things I’ve talked about.”

Craft said advances with the medical and education opportunities would boost economic diversity in the city.

“We’ve got medical, we’ve got education, we’ve got opportunities for an economy not related to the beach,” he said. “And that’s an important part of our future if we can create some economic diversity and both of these do that. And they bring professors to town, they bring physicians to our area. They bring a lot of input to our community and we think that these two things add a whole lot to the future of our world.”

“It gives us some seasonal diversity, not economic but seasonal because we’re bringing conventions and conferences that have been going to Destin. And we’re introducing our world to a new set of people ... and we’re proven when people come here they like our place, they like us, they like our Southern hospitality and they want to come back.”

The city sees this development as a key motivator for the state to finally build a new north-south corridor through the park to alleviate traffic.

As he sees it, Craft said the state would have three options, either to build the long-planned but controversial Cross Island Connector along Powerline Road through the heart of the park, build a new road along the eastern edge of the park golf course linking State Park Road 2 with Canal Road at the curve between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, or follow through with extensive upgrades of Canal Road, Ala. 59, the beach highway and Ala. 161 in Orange Beach.

The mayor said he has laid all the plans down for the state highway and conservation officials and Gov. Robert Bentley.

Gunter Guy, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, wasn’t happy with either option in the park.

“Gunter Guy said, “Well, I don’t like this because it splits the park in half and I really don’t like this because this is a park road and they need to be slow, low-traffic volumes, slower speeds and really don’t like putting that number of people in our park,” Craft explained. “And I told the governor, ‘Well, I understand all that but I have a history of dealing with Marriott, having developed the Courtyard by Marriott on 59. They do things the Marriott’s way, they don’t do things your way. So I told the governor -- it was my opinion and only my opinion I didn’t know it to be fact -- but one of the first things the Marriott or Hyde or any flag that you’re going to hire to manage a world-class convention center is going to be concerned about is how you get there.

“And you really only have three options. You either do Powerline Road, you do this area we suggested through there and you come out on county road 2 or you improve Canal Road all the way through Gulf Shores, Canal Road all the way through Orange Beach, 161; 59 all the way to the beach, 182 back to it and maybe they’ll accept that.

But I personally don’t think they’re going to invest $100 million with their name on the sign saying we’re going to host your convention and you can’t get there. I don’t think that’s going to go real well.”

In addition to the environment research facility planned at the park, Craft said he’s been in talks with the Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society and they are committed to coming to Gulf Shores if the funding is available. The proposed site would be next to the existing Gulf Shores High School and the campus would immerse students into the environment.

“It’d be an Ocean Camp similar to Space Camp they have in Huntsville that the kids for one week a year would come and be immersed in the environment and learn environmental education,” Craft said.

WATERWAY DISTRICT

“This is not economic diversity. It is not seasonal diversity but it is geographic diversity. It gets us something off the beach.”

The BP funding along with parking credits paid by Acme allowed the city to build a new parking area and a complete streetscape renovation of East 24th Avenue, both of which were completed in March.

“We created a lot of opportunities for more positive growth and development up there in moving a little bit of our economy off the beach because we lose that way too frequently it seems like,” Craft said, alluding to natural and manmade disasters that have affected the beach.

With the district’s growth, the mayor said private property owners on the canal’s north side, including portions of the old Bon Secour Village property and a large swath of land west of LuLu’s at Homeport Marina, want to be part of the district.

“So when we look at growth, this is a prime area for growth of the city that is underutilized now and it’s really not taking people down to the end of the T. It’s easy to get there.”

The 90-degree turn from East 2nd Street to Canal Road is also in the Waterway District and the city has its sights on redirecting traffic from that portion of Canal Road to a proposed extension of East 20th Avenue near the public schools’ campus.

A city-funded environmental study of the project that would link traffic on 20th Street to an area of Canal Road west of existing residential neighborhoods is wrapping up and Craft said the Alabama Department of Transportation is beginning to see the benefits and money saving possibilities if the new road is pursued. The state more expensive option is to improve Canal Road, requiring land purchases and the relocation of utilities.

If the 20th Avenue extension comes to fruition the city could then take over a portion of Canal Road and begin pedestrian-friendly improvements, tying into the Waterway District. .

To pay for the road project the city plans to apply for an grant through the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program, or ATRIP, a federal highway initiative that would pay 80 percent of the construction costs.

GULF BEACH DISTRICT

Refueling the Envision Gulf Shores plans from the mid-2000s, the city wants to create two beach highway bypasses north of Beach Boulevard (Ala. 181).

East Beach Boulevard would have a new elevated four-lane highway three block north of the beach running east, bypassing residential areas until reconnecting with the existing state highway just before the state park.

West Beach Boulevard would be redirected down Windmill Ridge Road that would remain two lanes but be improved.

Craft said the redirected state highway would allow the city to take control of the bypassed portion of East and West Beach Boulevard and open new streetscaping options with pedestrian and bicycle paths separated by landscaping, a center lane for a wheeled trolley that would run from Windmill Ridge south to the state park.

Zoning would also likely be change to lower density on the north side of the beach highway.

“If we can create this now we (can) dramatically changed the beach area of Gulf Shores and we’ve turned it into something that is unique and special and usable,” Craft said. “And it keeps you from having to get into your car to go to dinner and having to drive home and having to deal with driving while you’ve had a couple of drinks, which is a real issue. This is a safety deal.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

“How do you build all this? It’s going to take a long time,” Craft said. “This is a plan like others we’ve had but this is an 11-year plan. I can’t see 11 years from now so I’m sure this will be modified somewhere along the way. Maybe not the goals. Hopefully these goals are universal. They’re realistic.

“We know that this will twist and turn. ... Like I told our staff. It’s like we’re all getting on a bus. We’re getting on a bus, we’re all ready to go. We got everything geared up but we don’t know where we’re going. But we truly don’t know where we’re going. We sit down as a mayor and council and try to direct the city to where we’re going. We don’t know. And that’s not anybody’s fault. I think it’s just now time for us to recognize what will push us forward to do this.

“It’s for making sure that we don’t let this get so bad that none of us will live here anymore and nobody wants to come here anymore. So we’ve got to be very aggressive to make sure we do at least that.”

Foley is also working on plans to equip its signals with the same hardware that will communicate with Gulf Shores to help beach traffic between the cities.

“So we’re working really hard on the short-term improvements for the traffic and I know it gets all of us living here, having to deal with it, and I hate it as much as you do,” Craft said. “We’re determined to do what we can in the short term and pursue all these long-term deals.”

FUNDING

The city expects to go after additional BP funding through RESTORE Act money. The level of fines levied through the Clean Water Act could range between $5 billion and $20 billion, according to Craft, and the case continues to make its way through federal court.

Whatever the fine turns out to be Alabama will get a portion and a group of assigned stakeholders, including the mayors of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, will divvy up the state’s portion to eligible projects with clear objectives such as Vision 2025.

“To paint the picture. Is this a realistic goal? I think so,” Craft said to the crowd. “Is it a good goal? You’ve got to tell me. The fact that you’re here tonight is great. I’m glad you’re interested but it won’t do us any good if you don’t tell us what you think.”

Following the presentation, the participants went through a short question-and-answer session and then were encouraged to place questions via Post-It notes on maps at the back of the civic center. Council members and city staff stood by the maps and answered additional questions.

Mike Reilly, who rents property in the city’s West Beach area, told the mayor that he would like to see the trolley plan expanded or some sort of transit system implemented to avoid tragedies like the death of the Arkansas State student during spring break.

“We have a lot of kids that come down just to be on the beach and we really have a responsibility to provide them with a safe environment,” Reilly said. “A safe way to get places without having to drive.”

Craft said the city would be limited to operating the trolley on city-maintained streets but said he would look into the possibility.

After the presentation, Charlene Knobloch said she was encouraged by the mayor’s push to open the new academic campus.

“If we work on education I believe you’re going to bring teachers. You’re going to bring children,” said Knobloch, a retiree living in Craft Farms who has granddaughters attending Baldwin schools. “You’re going to bring activities and you’re going to bring people who are not just retired like us. You’re going to bring the younger group of people that are going to stay.

“This city is the same as Jasper where I came from. It’s got to grow but not just souvenir shops.”

Just five weeks out from heart surgery, Knobloch said she was also looking forward to better medical facilities near the city.

Pamela Wallace of Daphne, whose family has owned property at the city’s public beach since the 1950s, said she was concerned about public access to the beach.

“On the public beach, there’s been a lot of discussion here where they’re going to change the traffic flow and I’m getting older now but my family has had property down here for 60 years and I came as a toddler,” Wallace said. “I brought my children here and I am now bringing my grandchildren. And I want them to be able to have access. It’s not always convenient to park back a few blocks. ... All citizens should have the access that we have now. I hope nothing is going to change that access.”

PUBLIC INPUT

The mayor plans to visit Washington on June 11 to meet with Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions and Congressman Bradley Byrne about Gulf Shores’ plan and he said he and the council need community input before they’ll be comfortable with the vision.

“The real factor is the comments,” Craft said. “The community buy-in is important to a plan like this that really is transformative to our world. ... The more input I get the more confident I am to go forward.”